Skate



Feb. 9, 1943.

J. T. EN LEY SKATE FiledA Ju'iy 19, 1940 Patented Feb. 9, 1943 SKATE John Thomas Enley, Riverside, N. J., assignor to Metal Craft Manufacturing Company, a corporation of New Jersey Apprication July 19, 1940, Serial No. 346,449

6 Claims.

The invention pertains to skates and especially to roller skates, and is directed to the mounting which supports the rollers.

An object of the invention is to'provide a truck mounting for roller skate rollers in which bulfers of resilient material are interposed between the foot rest and the truck to absorb shock. Whereas in roller mountings of roller skates of the prior art the thrust forces from the rollers to the foot rest are transmitted through a metal interconnection, the mounting of the present invention is characterized by the interposition of resilient material in the interconnections between the rollers and the foot rest, so that all thrust forces from the roller to the foot rest are transmitted through the resilient material which absorbs the shock.

Other advantages are also present and these will be obvious from the structure of the preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1; and Y Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 4 4 of Figure 3.

The skate of the invention comprises the Vfoot rest 6 which may be of conventional construction and may include attaching means, I and 8, of any suitable construction, for attaching the skate to the foot of the wearer. The specific attaching means employed is not material to the present invention. The foot rest may include adjusting means of any suitable type, such as 9, for adjusting the length of the skate as desired. Such adjusting means Vforms no part of the present invention.

The skate includes rollers II, in the embodi ment shown being provided in pairs at the front and rear of the skate. The front pair of rollers are suspended from the foot rest 6 by means of the bracket I2 xed to the foot rest and projecting downwardly therefrom. A similar bracket I3 at the rear of the skate supports the rear rollers. The mountings of the front and rear rollers of the skate are similar and the description of one will suffice to enable an understanding of both.

The support bracket I2 extends downwardly and provides a thrust plate I4 at its lower end. The rollers II are attached to the thrust plate (Cl. ZBO-11.28)

I4 by means of the pin I5. The wheels II are mounted to rotate on the axle I6, either directly or on bearings of any suitable construction. The truck I1 includes the housing I8, which grips and holds the axle I6 against rotation. l

In the preferred practice of the invention the housing I8 consists of a rigid piece of sheet metal bent to t the axle, the metal providing arms extending away from the housing I8 in opposite directions providing two surfaces for thrust engagement with the thrust plate I4. The arm in one direction formed by the metal of the truck II provides a plate I9, terminating with a thrust plate 2t disposed at an angle thereto. The thrust plate describes a plane generally parallel to the plane of the opposed thrust plate I4, the two plates being juxtaposed in face to face relationship. The arm of the truck I'I disposed in the other direction provides the supporting attachment for the truck and its rollers I to the bracket l2.

For attachment of the truck vI'I to the bracket I2, the arm of the truck opposite the plate I9 extends to a cup-shaped member 2I which provides a seat for the resilient buier element 22, the buier element in the embodiment shown comprising a block of resilient rubber or similar material. The pin I5 passes through the member 2|, which ts it loosely for movement longitudinally of the pin. The pin I5 passes through the buffer element 22, which holds the member 2I positioned yieldingly spaced away from the thrust plate I4. The pin I5 also passes through the abutment plate 23 which is preferably cupshaped to engage the end of the buffer element 22 opposed to the member 2I.`

The pin I5 is screw-threaded for engagement with the buffer plate I4, the screw-threaded engagement permitting adjustment of the shock absorbing qualities of the buler element 22. Interposed between the abutment plate'23 and the buffer plate I4 is the nut 24 screw-threaded to the pin I5. The nut 24 facilitates the adjustment of buffer element 22, and in cooperation with the plate I4 provides a lock nut action to hold the pin 2I in adjustment.

The construction of the truck I'I, as described, provides two surfaces of thrust engagement with the plate I4 of thebracket I2, these being the abutment plate 23 and the thrust plate 2U, disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the axle I5. The main buffer element 22 absorbs shock applied to the rollers II and transmitted through the cup-shaped member 2I, which is movable longitudinally of the pin I5 against the yielding resistance of buer element 22. The other thrust engagement through the thrust plate 2l] is also shock absorbing by means of the resilient auxiliary buffer element 25 interposed between the thrust plates and I4. The buffer element 25, in the preferred embodiment shown, also consists of a block of resilient rubber or similar material.

The positioning pin 2G is provided, preferably riveted to the thrust plate lll, as shown, and it projects downwardly through the auxiliary buifer element 24 and through the aperture 21 in the thrust plate 23 to hold the buffer element 2d in position. The positioning pin 26 nts in the aperture 2l loosely enough to permit the pin to slide freely therein, the aperture thus comprising a guideway for the pin. Projecting downwardly from the thrust plate lli is the guide plate 28. The forward edge 29 of the thrust plate 2D is positioned to engage the inside surface of the forward guide plate 28 and slide up and down along it.

Thus as weight is applied to the top of the skate, as for example when the skate is being used, the buier element 22 slides longitudinally of the attaching pin I5 upon the compression of the buffer element 22. At the same time the auxiliary buier element 25 yields under the load of the wearer and the aperture 2l slides along the positioning pin 26 while the forward edge 29 of the thrust plate 2G slides along the inside surface of the guide plate 28. The edge 23 of the buffer plate 2i) maintains contact with the surface of the plate 28 to steady the roller mounting, to prevent the wobbling of the wheels, commonly termed shimmying.

The rear rollers l l are similarly mounted with the main and auxiliary elements 3l and 32 absorbing all the shock applied to the rear rollers of the skate. The skate is constructed to automatically throw the front and rear axles, iS and 33, respectively, out of parallel relation for turning, to bring the axle ends directed towards the inside of the turning curve closer to each other, and the outside axle ends farther apart. This is automatically accomplished when the skater throws his weight to one or the other side of the longitudinal center of the skate, depending upon the intended direction of turning.

Under these circumstances, when the skater leans to one or the other side of the longitudinal center of the skate, the roller trucks pivot on the pin l5, the pivoting of the front and rear trucks being in opposite directions. There is suihcient play between the positioning pin 25 and the aperture 21 to permit such pivoting. There is also suicient play between the member 2| and the pin l5 to permit slight movement caused by the steadying engagement between the edge 29 and the plate 28. The respective front and rear truck auxiliary buler elements 25 and 32, are rounded at 34 and 35, respectively, to facilitate the skate foot rest 6 to rock out of its horizontal position for turning. The contact between the front edge 29 of the buer plate 20 and the guide plate 28 is maintained throughout the turning action to completely avoid the hereinbefore referred to shimmying. To further facilitate pivoting on the pin l5 when the skater makes turns, the ends of the edge 2S at the free corners of the thrust plate 2D are chamfered, as illustrated at 36.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the skate disclosed in the drawing and described herein is susceptible of a number of modifications without departing from the scope of the invention which is determined by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A roller mounting for roller skates and the like comprising, a downwardly directed support bracket, a thrust plate attached to the bracket, an axle horizontally disposed, one or more rollers mounted on the axle, a truck xed to the axle, and providing a plurality of arms having substantially parallel thrust faces for thrust engagement with the bracket, interconnections between the respective arms and the bracket for supporting the rollers, the interconnection of one arm comprising an upright pin attached to the bracket, a loose connection between the pin and the arm for movement of the arm longitudinally of the pin, a resilient Ibuffer member between the bracket thrust plate and the loose connection positioning the loose connection yieldingly spaced from the bracket, the interconnection of a second arm of the truck comprising a thrust plate juxtaposed to the bracket thrust plate, a resilient buffer member interposed between the cpposed truck and bracket thrust plates.

2. A roller mounting for roller skates and the like comprising, a downwardly directed support bracket, a thrust plate attached to the bracket, an axle horizontally disposed, one or more rollers mounted on the axle, a truck fixed to the axle, and providing a plurality of arms for thrust engagement with the bracket, interconnections between the respective arms and the bracket for supporting the rollers, the interconnection of one arm comprising an upright pin attached to the bracket, a loose connection between the pin and the arm for movement of the arm longitudinally of the pin, a resilient buffer member between the bracket thrust plate and the loose connection positioning the loose connection yieldingly spaced from the bracket, the interconnection oi' a second arm of the truck comprising a thrust plate juxtaposed to the bracket thrust plate, a resilient buffer member interposed between the opposed truck and bracket thrust plates, the interconnection of the second arm of the truck including surfaces of the bracket and the truck interengaging in a plane disposed inthe direction of thrust.

3. A roller mounting for roller skates and the like comprising, a foot rest having a bracket depending therefrom, a truckrto carry an axle and rollers and means to attach the truck to the bracket comprising, resilient means between the truck and bracket, pivot and guide pins passing loosely through openings in the truck, and a liange against which one end of the truckabuts,`

the said pivot pin, guide pin and flange being carried by the bracket and being arranged parallel to one another and at a small angle to the vertical.

4. A roller mounting for roller skates and theY like comprising, a foot rest, a bracket secured to the under side of the foot rest, a truck to carry an axle and rollers, and means to attach the truck to the bracket comprising a pivot pin and a guide pin carried by the bracket and passing loosely through openings in the truck, resilient buffers surrounding said pins and interposed between said bracket and said truck, and a ange extending downwardly from said bracket against which one end of the truck abuts, the said pins and ange being arranged parallel to one another and at a small angle to the vertical.

5. A roller mounting for roller skates and the 1i :e comprising, a foot rest,` a bracketsecured to" the underside of the foot rest, a truck tocarry an axle and rollers, and means to attach the truck to the bracket comprising, a pivot pin and a guide pin carried by the bracket and passing loosely through openings in the truck, resilient buffers surrounding said pins and interposed between said bracket and said truck to provide the sole medium of force transmission between the truck and the bracket, and a flange extending downwardly from said bracket against which one end of the truck abuts, the said pins and flange being arranged parallel to one another and at a small angle to the vertical.

6. A roller mounting for roller skates and the like comprising, a foot rest, -a bracket secured to the under side of the foot rest having a flange depending therefrom, a truck to carry an axle and rollers, and means to attach the truck to the bracket comprising pivot and guide pins carried by the bracket and passing loosely through openings in the truck, and resilient buffers surrounding the said pins interposed between the truck and the bracket, the said ange and pins being arranged parallel to one another and at a small .angle to the vertical, the said truck having a squared end to abut the flange and steady the truck, whereby angular movement of the axle in a horizontal plane causes a camming of the squared end of the truck upon the flange against the torsional twist of the buler surrounding the pivot pin when the foot rest is tilted.

JOHN THOMAS ENLEY. 

